After the 1960s, people thought peace signs and tie-dye were a thing of the past but today they are more popular than ever. However, these two things are usually no longer a representation of the hippie culture they were once associated with. In the 60s, the hippie movement was composed of mostly white young people fifteen to twenty-five years old. At the peak of the Vietnam War, hippies were described as the ones who wanted “peace, love, and personal freedom.” By June 1966, 15,000 hippies had migrated to the well-known San Francisco neighborhood, Haight-Ashbury.
The given definition of a hippie is “a person who opposes and rejects many of the conventional standards and customs of society, especially one who advocates extreme liberalism, in sociopolitical attitudes and lifestyles.” So, why all of the tie-dye and peace signs you might ask? Hippies wanted to stand out. They wanted to be noticed so people would consider what they were proposing. Tie-dye first became popular out west, which happens so be where the hippie subculture began. Eventually, it was well-known around the world as being picked up by hippies because of its stand-out bright colors and interesting designs. Peace signs became a common symbol in the hippie culture to remind people of what they really were all about, peace. In the 60s, when you saw someone walking down the street in a tie-dye t-shirt or sporting a peace sign, it was always just assumed that that person was a hippie, a good assumption during that time period.
Of course, everything comes to an end as did what people liked to call the “hippie movement of the 60s.” There was a long time period where tie-dye and peace signs really were a thing of the past. But like all so called fads, these two things are back and very popular. But they no longer represent the hippie subculture. Now when you walk down the street, many young people are wearing tie-dye sweat shirts and peace sign necklaces but it would never enter someone’s mind to consider them a hippie. Today, these items are not really given a meaning. They just returned as a very popular fad that will eventually go out and return many times. It is remained to be seen if they will ever again represent something as large as the hippie subculture of the 60s.
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It is interesting how a social movement can turn into a series of cultural movements that mean different things over time. Although "hippie" style began as a concentrated counter-culture it seemed to branch out into a mainstream style and symbol that eventually came to represent a time period among most young people by the end of the 1960's-early 1970's era. Popular media and fashion moguls have perhaps exploited this era, which appears to have been a time full of change and young passion and sold it to a new, young less burdened generation. Aside from its explicit allure, the era seems to symbolize ideals of freedom of individual expression and choice, which are unsurprisingly attractive to followers of Western culture.
ReplyDeletei think within those people wearing tie-dye and peace signs though are those who do still believe in the same beliefs of the hippies from the 1960's. while they may be trying to bring back the notion once popular among american youth, as long as others wear the colors for fun and without meaning, there will be a long time before any symbolic nature is restored to the modern hippie movement.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you that most youth today who wear tie-dye and peace signs are not identified as "hippie." I own countless tie-dyed shirts but I do not hold the same beliefs as traditional hippies, nor am I well informed about the time period. However I do believe that there are a few people out there who still support the movement and dress to reflect that, as Lyndon says. In addition, I think that some teens dress in a hippie fashion because they think hippies are cool, regardless if they really know the ideology behind the era. But no matter what the reason is for wearing tie-dye and peace signs today, your ending statement is completely accurate. The two items no longer completely represent a subculture, and they may not ever represent something like it again.
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